Regis Prograis vs Maurice Hooker facing weight dispute

Former super lightweight champions Regis Prograis and Maurice Hooker were all set to duke it out in April 17th at a 143-pound catchweight, only for the coronavirus to do its usual thing and doom the matchup to an uncertain future. Today, rebooking it got a little more difficult. Hooker’s trainer, Brian McIntyre, tells Sports illustrated that the fight must now take place at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds, a demand Prograis manager Sam Katkovski tells The Athletic he refuses.

Prograis (24-1, 20 KO) himself chimed in to say that if Hooker (27-1-3, 18 KO) “can’t make the weight, there’s no fight.” Katkovski calls the original catchweight a “concession” to “Mighty Mo.”

Hooker struggled mightily with the 140-pound limit in his WBO title defense against Mikkel Lespierre, and though he safely made weight in his attempted unification match with Jose Ramirez, he afterwards announced his intention to campaign at 147 from there on out. He proved a bit more noncommittal after a 144-pound catchweight finish of Uriel Perez, however, telling Chris Mannix that he wanted his next “serious outing” at 140.

That didn’t quite pan out.

Prograis says that he wants to be come a champion again at super lightweight and is “not coming back down” when he eventually moves to welterweight. He’s already giving up quite a bit of height and reach to Hooker; I’m 100% on his side in this dispute.